Plot: One By Two is the story of Amit and Samara – two souls in Mumbai, a city of millions and how the universe conspires to bring them together. This is a coming of age film about how two people are destined to meet but only when their individual lives are ready for each other. Through a chance encounter, a series of coincidences and fate’s helping hand, Amit and Samara’s lives intersect and affect each other. Whether they can find their true paths or not, only time will tell.

What’s Good: The testing labyrinths of life that remained the film’s most relatable part

What’s Bad: Screenplay, Acting and perhaps every other department you can possibly name.

Loo break: The film has ample inspiring moments for you to rush to the loo

Watch or Not?: One By Two is a linear film that doesn’t evoke anything from you at all. The stretched screenplay is tiresome, the lead actors are awfully boring, the dialogues were a flop show, the story was futile and utterly pointless and mostly even after a good first half of the film finished up, I was clueless about where the film is heading. I have admired Abhay Deol since Socha Na Tha but this was his most sub standard performance till date. You never expect such relentless rubbish from a fine actor like him and that remains the most disappointing bit of the film.

User Rating:

Amit Sharma (Abhay Deol) and Samaira Patel (Preeti Desai) have entirely different lives with many similar trajectories. As fate murders their dreams of settling down one after the other with one brutal stroke, they work towards changing what luck handed out to them. While Amit tries harder to get back with the love of his life, Samaira toils and practices harder to win a dance competition. Stuck between her alcoholic mother and un-acknowledging father, she has a lot to prove to herself. And Amit works towards shedding his fears and inhibitions. From boredom to evolving their real selves, the movie journeys with the characters until fate changes for better and draws them closer to each other.

Abhay Deol in a still from movie ‘One by Two’

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One By Two Review: Script Analysis

It is hammy script with sloppy sequences which are starkly placed on intention and making no attempt to compliment each other. Samaira and Amit’s life never cross paths and though it is a small world with luck throwing their way enough co-incidences to meet, the film essentially tries to precis the problems of their respective lives. Now, the problems they suffer from do ring a familiar bell for most – a terrible break up, boss issues, boyfriend issues, alcoholic mother issues, job hassles, all fairly fathomable, but the story spends too much time beating around the bush without telling anything effective or potent.

The story is consecutive narration of one incident after another with none really making any sense or showing any remote co-relation with each other. It is harrowing to see problems being slapped on the face of two dismally dull protagonists, one after the other. There is no effort to draw any sympathy towards the characters which is frustrating because both Amit and Samara annoy you to bits, individually.

Every plot, every sequence, every shot is so flat in this movie that you can’t feel any emotion. There is no cool part at any point and even at its 2 hours plus of run time, you don’t feel pain, joy , sorrow, romance or anything besides sleep. Do such boring people actually exist? Apparently they do or else what else could have inspired this somber tale.

Also much to my surprise, a good half of the film thrive on punjabi pet se nikle hue potty jokes courtesy – punju paneer. Somehow stooping beneath the mark to sound hilarious doesn’t sound classy to me. I have an extremely low threshold for jokes that revolve around the toilet and commode and this film uses jokes of that order as humor constantly. A film’s standard of humor always conveys its matter and intelligence and this one never rises above the pot.

One By Two Review: Star Performances

The mellifluous Abhay Deol is sorrowfully wasted in a film like this. I still cannot sum up the equation that led Abhay to not only act in this film but also produce it.

Preeti Desai plays a cardboard character in the film and after closely looking at her all through the film, I concluded her acting skills are highly questionable as it clearly lacks the needed knack for the work.

Amongst all the characters it is the senior ladies Lillette Dubey and Rati Agnihotri who steal your hearts in their delicate little parts but have very little screen space to act as saving grace.

One By Two Review: Direction, Editing and Screenplay

Devika Bhagat’s direction is abrupt and unclear. I doubt the filmmaker had in her mind the correct picture of what she intended to say in the film. Her muddled up thoughts were visible on celluloid due to the multiple logic lapses all through the screenplay. The lack of confidence became evident as the story advanced towards the greater realms of depth when instead of rising to the occasion, the filmmaker ducked beneath needless songs and diametric changes in the plotline.

The editing was just as unclear and perhaps you can’t spill the blame on editing department as Bhagat presents to us one sloppy show that is such a let down.

One By Two Review: The Last Word

When it is an Abhay Deol film you go in expecting quality, out-of-the-box endeavor but this time the actor strands you in middle of one heck of a horrible film that suffers from loopy writing. There is a lack of emotion in the story and a lack of heart in the execution which makes the film such a shamefully bland one. I am going with a 1/5 for it. Barring the few songs there is nothing fresh to seek in this insipid affair.